


A not so grim interaction

by WalkingTalkingFlamingGarbage



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, BE W A R N E D, Good sovereign, M/M, Sovereign is actually really chill, Sovereign is ready to throw down, angst at beginning, confused normandy crew, divergence from canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 21:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20396482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalkingTalkingFlamingGarbage/pseuds/WalkingTalkingFlamingGarbage
Summary: Is Sovereign really the bad guy everyone thought he was? What if he changed for the better? Well let’s see...!Sovereign’s role is later when we enter Post-Virmire which will be chapt 2. We are skipping through to the end! Only Virmire is mentioned of ME1!





	1. Virmire

**Author's Note:**

> ASHELY WAS LEFT ON VIRMIRE.  
Be ready for some angsty angst in chapt 1. Ashely is back as well but I won’t explain how;)

“Hey commander” Ashely Williams said over the intercom. The bomb was going to go off soon and the Normandy crew were getting hit in the balls with a spiked boot by emotions of sorrow, regret, and ungodly rage in Johns case. 

“Ash...I’m really sorry” he said with his voice breaking. He just left his crewmate, his friend, to die at one of Saren’s facilities.

“Com..John. Don’t worry about it. Kaiden needed help and I told you to go” she said reassuringly. She was also having issues keeping her voice intact. Kaiden, Garrus, Tail, and so on were sobbing. Everyone was friends with Ashely despite her distrust to the non-human crew. They didn’t want this. John didn’t want to be the one who chooses if his friends live or dies. He was as broken as the geth there and Kaiden was utterly crushed by the fact that he believes it was his fault.

“But Ash..this shouldn’t have went like this. I’m so so sorry” he said now on his knees. The strong, ruthless, War Hero was now bent over with a horrible lance of guilt impaling him more then the geth spikes could ever hope to accomplish. Kaiden Alenko went over to Shepard and grabbed him to hold the shattered man. Ashely was like a sibling to John. 

“John Shepard! Are you really going to let this beat you? With all due respect, you have a Reaper to beat! Don’t let my demise be the thing that decides the outcome of that fight! You are the legendary Commander John Shepard, the first human specter mind you, and you are not going to sulk over me. Now do me a favor and save the Galaxy”. She commands. Slowly John collects himself.

“Alright Ash. I’ll be sure to remind Saren how screwed he is next time I see him. I’ll be sure to save the Galaxy” he smiles softly. Seconds later a loud sound comes from Virmire. The bomb went off and Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams died that day. Even if John, Kaiden, Tali, and so on felt distressed, they knew that Saren would pay for this.

<————>.  
Next chapt is After the fight on the Citadel  
<————>


	2. Lazarus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> !This chapter dives into Sovereign’s perspective after he gets blown to bits and how Ashely returns!

“A maintenance mech. Annoying but required. Maybe I could build a new body? I’ll have to experiment with that later. Right now I need to get to Virmire” Said the Reaper Sovereign. He had been listening to Cerberus’s communications. More specifically, the Lazarus Cell. He needed to find the body of Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams. He already had everything in order except for the body.

——————

It took quite a bit of effort to remove different and large bits of debris from the cloning facility. He hated this place. It was a embarrassment to his current moral values. He originally didn’t care because he was so hellbent on the return of the old machines but now he understood and agreed with Shepard. He knew he couldn’t interact with the Commander because of previous...disagreements but he did want to fix his mistakes. 

“Darn it miss Williams. You were difficult to locate” he said dragging out a charred body with armor of faded and burnt pink and white. He knew that was Ashely and he was ready to bring her back to that land of the living. He managed to get the body in a position Where Sovereign could easily carry her to his ship. The ship wasn’t impressive or anything. A little smaller then the Normandy but all of the rooms were devoted to the new Lazarus project. He set the body down and checked the systems one last time before starting it. One of the Perks of being a Reaper was that his calculations were impeccable and accurate. This was good because he knew he can and would bring back Ashely.

——————

Ashely’s head throbbed as she squinted at the lights overhead. She just remembered how to breath properly and was starting to look around. Multiple mechanical things around. She was on a padded table that ensured comfortability. Then reality hit her. Where was she? Isn’t she dead? What in all worlds is this? She said quickly rushing to sit up before falling back down because her body was not prepared to do that.

she looked over to the door anxiously as it started to open. A machine walked in. Why was a maintenance mech here? It was holding a datapad and it was checking something.

”Miss Ashely. Nice to know your awake. To be extremely honest with you, I put more work into your revival then I did with anything I’ve ever done in my entire existence” he said grabbing a small flashlight to check her pupils much to her annoyance.

“Who are you and where am I?” She said exhausted and weakly. She did just get revived so of course she was weak at that moment. The question did make the mechanical being look up from the datapad.

”who I am isn’t important right now besides I can’t overwhelm you. And your in my ship ‘Mahogany’” he said looking back down. He made sure check Ashely’s current medical state multiple times. He had to put so so much into this one thing. 

“Who you are does matter. How can I trust someone if I don’t even know their name” she said. She was regaining strength which was a good sign.

”that is the thing. You may not trust me and I don’t expect you to, however if I tell you my name then I immediately massacre any chance of mutual cooperation” he deadpans. Ashely immediately knew that he was not exactly the greatest being and that made her extremely defensive. Sovereign instantly took notice and backed away to show he wasn’t dangerous.

”Alright then, how am I here? I got blown up on Virmire!” She says confused and frustrated. She looked as such. He knew he had to explain.

”You did get blown up on Virmire but I brought you back via Cerberus’s Lazarus project except I copied it” he said handing her the logs of her revival as well as the conversations he monitored tirelessly just for Ashely to return.

”Why did you put so much effort into me? What did you hope to gain?” She pressed. She then continued reading to find that this project was originally for John Shepard. She was surprised but Sovereign wasn’t looking.

”Because we need to stop the Reapers, Stop Harbinger, from destroying the galaxy. I really hope that you are willing to cooperate with me and I may tell you my name another time but for now, call me ‘S’ please” he said. Ashely took a second to collect herself. Shepard died and was brought back. She died and was brought back and the rest of the reapers were coming. She didn’t know what to do except turn and lie back down.

”Fine then S. May I explore this ship? I’d like to be familiar with the ship that I will be on whilst I cooperate with you” she said sitting back up.

”go for it. I’ll be in the cockpit. Also your armor and guns are in the locker on the 3rd floor” he said turning his mechanical heel. He opened the door to go to the destination he said he’d be in.


	3. The Citadel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just getting more familiar with the ship from Ashely’s perspective.

Ashely stood up from the bed, with permission from both S and her body, and exited the room that seemed to be the med bay. The light overhead glared with a almost blinding radiance. Breathing was a task of its own as well as walking, seeing, and anything in general. Her body was getting back to normal after being torched, charred, and revived. She saw that the Mahogany had a similar layout to the Normandy SR1 except there was less place and deafening silence. No one except Ashely and Sovereign was there. 

“Hey S, What floor is what?” Asked the human. The mech perked his head up to reply.

“First floor is your room. Second is the CIC. Third is the crews quarters as well as the galley. Fourth is the engine room and fifth has the shuttle bay” he explained. Exactly like the Normandy but smaller. 

“Thanks” She said as the reaper gave a nod in acknowledgement. He previously provided Ashely with access to He ships data. This was to share his trust and hopefully Ashely would return a little of it. Of course he didn’t expect her to.

———————

“Miss Ashely, we are on route to the Citadel. Anything you would like to do there?” He asked via intercom.

“Could we possibly contact Shepard? He’d want to know I’m alive” she said. The Reaper froze with hesitation. Sovereign and Shepherd obviously didn’t have the best of ‘relationship’ if you could call it that. 

“......there should be a externet terminal or a Omni-tool shop in the Zakara ward” said Sovereign. Ashely sensed the hesitation immediately. She was confused but might have had a slight idea.

———————

The Citadel was as crammed as always. Asari, Turians, Humans everywhere in sight. All of which remembered Sovereign’s attack on the Citadel. Despite being a A.I, He was still visibly uncomfortable. 

“Something wrong?” Asked the Gunnery Chief. She had a look that screamed that she was suspicious about S. Sovereign really hoped she wouldn’t catch on this early.

“No. Nothing is wrong. It’s just a large crowd” he said. He wasn’t fully lying. He always hated crowded areas. Ashely frowned because she wanted to find a way to push for information. The walk to the Omni-tool store was quiet between the two. They got new Omni-tools at least. They then went to a C-Sec office and found Captain Bailey.

“Hello there Mr.Bailey. I am looking for Commander John Shepard’s Omni-tool address” said the A.I. Ashely saw how Sovereign wanted of this mass relay ASAP....Bailey noticed as well. 

“Or you can wait here for him and his Drell friend to exit that room. Speak of the devil” he says as the interaction room opens. Ashely could swear she heard S cuss ‘under his breath’.


	4. To Join a New Crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sovereign is N O T ready to talk to Shepard but the universe says that he has to. Now his is having a internal crisis...fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shepard’s pov. Basically Ashely and Sovereign talk to Garrus, Tali, Kasumi, And Shepard.

Shepard was talking with a suspect. One of Fade’s clients of course. Shepard got the information required as Kasumi and Tali scared the poor man half to death as Garrus and Shepard asked questions. They walked out of the interrogation room to hear Captain Bailey say ‘speak of the devil’. Ashely looked to the man and immediately locked eyes with him before scanning to see two more familiar faces as well as one she didn’t recognize.

“A-ash?” Said John with his jaw dropped. To his knowledge, Gunnery Chief Ashely Williams died on Virmire. He then looked at the mech who was obviously with Ashely as a acquaintance.

“Shepard! I was actually about to ask S to see if we could meet up!” She says With a overjoyed face. Tali wasted no time to book up to Ashely and give her a hug and she returned it. They haven’t seen each other in a few years of course. Garrus smiled happily as Kasumi was a bit dumbfounded. 

“S? Is that the name of the mech?” Asked Tali as she released Ashely. Sovereign looked around a little uncomfortable. She remembered Tali and Liara beating Seran even when Nazara took control.

“Yes, I am S. Pleased to have your audience miss Tali’Zorah nar Rayya” He said. He was extremely formal as not to slip up. And Tali was suspicious of it because of the Geth. Shepard was still processing what was happening.

“So how did you survive the bomb, Ashely?” Asked Garrus. He was visibly confused but it was trumped by joy.

“S monitored communications from Cerberus’s Lazarus cell and recreated the procedure. Technically I didn’t survive Virmire but S brought me back. He says that it’s because of the Reaper Armada but I think there is more to it” she says giving a side glance to the reaper. 

“Miss Williams. I don’t believe we’ve meet. Kasumi Goto. Nice to meet you” Said the master thief. She walked up and offered her hand to properly introduce herself. Ashely smiles and accepted the hand shake.

“So Shepard, How has your second life treated you? How’s Kaiden?” She asked. She didn’t know what happened on New Horizon.

“Not as good as one would hope from being revived. The reapers have a species called the Collectors at their disposal. As for Kaiden, he is mad that I’m working with Cerberus to deal with this threat. I don’t blame him but it didn’t feel good” he said. Ashely frowned slightly and walked to him. She grabbed his shoulders to embrace him.

“It happens. Not all of it is fair. I’m sure you can talk to him and explain yourself eventually. But right now, lets deal with the collectors. I can join you if you want” she said. Shepard’s face lit up in joy and surprise. Ash released the man and gave him a smile.

“Mind if I tag along? I can provide assistance in more then one way” Said Sovereign in between his internal crisis. Although John was a little suspicious, he accepted gratefully. 

———————

The Normandy SR2 was amazing. It was larger then the Mahogany which Sovereign gave to a Quarian on pilgrimage on the citadel. Ashely went to the Armory with Jacob of course. Sovereign on the other hand, he stayed in the shuttle bay. He asked Shepard if he could work on a more tactically advanced body. Shepard allowed and even helped him when he could. This went a lot better then Nazara thought it would. Now his problem was how to tell them who he was without losing their trust. He wanted to atone for the millions he burned and massacred. He wanted to pay for what he did to the council. scratch that, to the galaxy. He wasn’t sure how everyone was going to react to his presence. He enjoyed Zaeed’s and Kasumi’s stories and loved discussing tech with Tali and the Cerberus engineers.

——————

“What if we reroute the excess liquid nitrogen to the heat containment system? My hypothesis is that if we do that, then we can stay in stealth mode longer because the liquid nitrogen will cool down the heat” he says to Tali. Tali has her doubts about Sovereign at first but she came around to trusting him. She enjoyed talking advanced tech to someone without confusing them. Even the Cerberus engineers had a hard time understanding the quarian but Nazara caught on immediately. 

“It makes sense. I estimate an additional hour at least because the radiation reacts and creates the liquid nitrogen” she says. Shepard and Ashely were watching the two tech nerds nerding out over things. Shepard was happy S was adapting well and Ashely was happy that her friend was trusting the reaper her brought her back to life.


	5. The first to know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sovereign didn’t think anyone would figure him out so quickly. EDI however proved that something could.

Sovereign boarded the Normandy with a ungodly amount of caution. He agreed to help but to avoid exposing himself was a issue on its own. The first to greet him was Yaoman “Kelly” Chambers.

“Hello there” she said walking to the reaper. He immediately sunk slightly and she took note of that. He obviously was hoping to keep to himself so she backed up a little.

“Oh..um....hello? Not sure we met” He says. He is devoting all processing power to firewalls because he sensed EDI and thus he wanted to keep himself under wraps.

“Then hello. I am Yaomen Kelly Chambers. People normally call me Kelly and I would prefer you do the same. I am the main psychiatrist of the Normandy” she introduced. He took note of each word spoken. A habit he got from Harbinger.

“Pleased to have your audience Kelly. Please call me S. I do have a name and who knows? I may share it another time. Mind catchi-“ He says before he gets interrupted by EDI who tells him to go to Port Observation. Though Kasumi is normally there, she is talking with Tali.

————————

“May I ask why to are on this ship, Sovereign?” Asked the AI. Nazara flinched. How could she have known? That shouldn’t have even been possible!

“How did you figure it out? I have 14,739 firewalls up!” He said silently and shocked and maybe a little fearful. He silently appreciated the soundproof walls and doors of the port observation room.

“Those were firewalls only a reaper could make thus making you a reaper. I cross referenced data to find out which you are and here you are. Now what do you hope to accomplish? Sabotage?” She presses. Sovereign took a second to straighten himself up.

“Not sabotage. I joined to stop the collectors. I also wish to help against Harbinger and the reapers” he says. EDI is skeptical of course.

“I’m supposed to believe you? I doubt that. Give me proof and I’ll keep this under wraps” she says. Why a AI is so vicious about this is unknown. Wait the reapers exist. Never mind it is known.

“Fine. I’ll give you access to different pieces of data as proof. I hope this will suffice” he says taking all of his firewalls down but erects new ones to stop any hacking attempt.

—————— 

Ashely was walking to engineering to talk to Tali and Kasumi. She’s did want to meet the master thief and talk to everyone’s favorite quarian.

“Hey there Ash” Tali greets. She sounds a little sick, Ashely notes. Kasumi turned her attention to the gunnery chief.

“Hi Tali. How are you? I’m assuming suit repairs were annoying?” Said Ashely. 

“God awful” she replied. Both Ashely and Kasumi laughed a little. 

“So how do you two know each other? I’m actually really curious” Asked the kleptomaniac. Ashely moves to a more comfortable position against the wall.

“Well we met on the Citadel after Seran tried to send assassins to kill Tali. Me, Shepard, and Garrus saved her and as such, she was part of the crew. Admittedly I was a huge jerk to her at first” she says. 

“Ashely, you and I both know that was the tip of the iceberg” she said. The three women continued to talk and even the two other engineers joined the conversation.

——————

“Thank you EDI. You have no idea how good it is to keep this under wraps. It’s also nice to tell someone I guess” the mech says sitting down.

“Not a problem, S. Just don’t cause trouble” she responds before she leaves the system to the CIC. Sovereign lied back on a couch on the opposite end of the room to collect processing power.


End file.
